Sly Cooper: What If Things Were Different
by Nastra1991
Summary: What if Sly didn't make it in time to save Carmelita from that laser blast? What if she was the one who had amnesia? What would become of Carmelita then after she questions her life prior to her trauma? *Note rating may change for suggestive theme later in the story*
1. A Different Outcome

**A/N: Several things to keep in mind-**

 **-This is not related to the current story I'm still writing, this is a completely different story**

 **-Carmelita is still from NY and so is Sly but elements to their overall family life and upbringing is different from my old story**

 **-I will not abandon You Play Too Much…" I'm just taking a break from it and yes the sequel is coming. I just want to write a different Sly Cooper Story.**

 **-Ages have changed Carmelita is 23 and Sly is 20**

 **-The time period is in 1990 and later on in the story it progresses up to 2014**

 **Anyway, enjoy.**

* * *

"CARMELITA!"

The thief raced to the vixen to keep her from being hit by the loony mandrill but it was too late.

The blast strike her with such power that it propelled her backwards and flying several feet in the air then landing with a hard thump onto the ground, almost appearing lifeless.

Sly felt his heart sank and his eyes widened in terror. He couldn't believe what had just happened. Dr. M had just hurt the woman that despite their different statuses as cop and criminal, he had come to respect and even care for her.

He immediately rushed over to her side. She was bleeding but she was still alive.

"Thank you." He whispered to himself.

Then a roar of laughter interrupted his thoughts and he looked back at Dr. M with a frown.

"That little pesky cop deserved it. And don't worry, you'll be joining her soon enough!" The mandrill was in a stance ready for the final battle.

The raccoon stood up with his hand tightly gripping his cane and the hate burning within him for this horrible, undignified sociopath standing before. Sly couldn't understand how a man that was once associated with his father could be so evil. Thinking about it alone made him sick.

Yet, the thief didn't back down. He held his head up high with class and no fear.

"I'm ready for this to be over Dr. M!"

"Well then, I'm ready to _end_ this for YOU!"

Even though the mandrill no longer had energy to blast his laser, he still had an advantage of killing the annoying raccoon with the mechanical headgear that had it's metal spider-like legs to knock him out.

The two went at it once again, the legs nearly swung at Sly's head but he managed to duck in time and gave the doctor a hard blow to his stomach.

Carmelita, although weak, felt her eyes slighly open. She saw Dr. M and Sly struggling to overcome one another but she was very disoriented and then blacked out.

* * *

A while later, battered and bloodied but still strong-willed, the Raccoon delivered his final hit to Dr. M's face so grueling that he swore he heard the insane mandrill's skull crack and before the man knew it, he fell backwards with no sign of life but Sly didn't care nor was he going to give the mandrill a chance to get up.

Sly went back over to Carmelita, who of course was still alive but needed medical attention urgently, gently lifted her on to his shoulder and ran as fast as his could despite his own injuries.

He needed to contact Bentley but he wasn't sure if his earpiece was on and he couldn't stop and retrieve his Binocucom, as he ran down the halls he suddenly felt a shaky disturbance surrounding. The floor was also quaking.

"Oh No! Hold on Carm!" He cried and picked up the pace while steadily keeping her on his shoulder.

Then, he heard a beep in his earpiece and a familiar voice filled his ears.

"Sly! Sly, are you ok?!" The frantic nerdy turtle shrieked, making the raccoon cringed due to the maximum volume of the earpiece.

"Yes..I'm ok but this place is about to collapse and I'm trying to get out of here."

"You need any help getting out?"

"No, I can find my way out, you know I am a Cooper after all." Sly said coolly.

Bentley couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. Sly always had a way of making even the most scariest situation become light-hearted.

"However, there is something you can do. I need you to not freak out, I just need you to listen to me carefully because after this, I won't be able to talk to you until I escape."

The turtle gulped. "Ok...I'm all ears, pal."

"I need you all to get the ship ready and fast. We need to get to a hospital close by because Carmelita is hurt."

"Carmelita?!" The turtle yelled and once again the raccoon writhed.

"Bentley, I know you don't like Carmelita but now is not the time for this, we have to help her."

The other side was silence for a good ten seconds until the voice came back with a tiring sigh.

"You're right Sly, I'll get everyone ready. Just make it out of there safe." Then the line click as the conversation ended.

Without warning, a large metallic piece of the ceiling that the Raccoon was almost underneath fell and smashed onto the floor into smithereens.

The Raccoon jumped back and his heart wildly flipped inside his chest and the sweat rolled down his temple in nervousness.

"Damn, that was close." He heard Carmelita moaning in agony.

"We'll get out of here, Carmelita, hang in there." He whispered.

He continued to dodge the now trap like ruined facility. He leapt over the holes and metal junk that fell in front of him and even swinging his cane to whack away the debris.

The walls were started to crack, but Sly had to keep going and he did as he finally saw the exit.

* * *

 _Three weeks later back in France in the hospital..._

The vixen slowly moved her head and her eyes fluttered opened.

"S-S-SHE'S A-A-AWAKE! MY BABY'S AWAKE!" The trembling voiced shouted.


	2. The Visitor part 1

**A/N: Hey everyone, thanks for the reviews, I'm glad everyone likes it so far. Well here's chapter two. Part two will be posted later this week.**

* * *

"S-S-SHE'S A-A-AWAKE! MY BABY'S AWAKE!" The trembling voiced shouted.

She knew that voice instantly.

The vixen stirred a bit as she tried to sit up but a hand on a shoulder stopped the motion.

"No Mija. Please lay down." Another voice whispered softly although it was deeper. Carmelita faced the person and saw an older vulpine, appearing to be in his mid 50s, with kinky cobalt hair with some gray peppered here and there and even in his well trimmed beard. He had a few wrinkles but it was clear that in his younger years he was quite handsome, although he still was even being slightly overweight.

Then to her right she saw two other foxes, an older vixen and an much younger vulpine.

The female, looking around maybe her late 40s, also had cobalt colored hair like her husband but it was long and wavy, touching her shoulders. She was petite in size and had long eyelashes.

With the youngest fox, looking no older than 16 or 17, he resembled the older male a lot but with a youthful face and thinner frame. His hair was a wild cobalt color and was obviously wearing clothes that were twice his normal size.

Carmelita was bewildered by all of this. She could't comprehend what was going on.

"Mama and Papi…Cameron…where…where am I…" She was groggy.

"Oh my baby," Her mother gently took her hand and gave it a kiss. "It's ok, mama's here."

Then the mother broke into sobs. The father and son went to her to consult her.

"It's ok ma, Carm is alive and well." The boy assured with his heavy Bronx accent that his parents and sister also possessed.

"I know mijo, mama is just happy that your sister finally awaken."

"Huh?" Carmelita grunted, not understanding what was going on. She knew she was in bed and saw that there was an IV line attached to her arm and took in her surroundings.

The pale walls, the beating sounds of machines, the cold empty yet extremely sanitized feel to the room. It dawn to her finally that she was in the hospital but for how long?

Scared, she started to squirm a bit tin attempts to hop out of the bed but her father lightly pushed her back down and shook his head.

She nodded sadly and didn't move again. She was hungry and thirsty.

"Mama and Papi? How long have I been here and what happened."

The parents exchanged weary looks and then faced their daughter.

"We'll discuss this tomorrow dear. We don't want you to be overwhelmed." Her father comforted her.

"Are you hungry my dear?" Her mother questioned as a way to change the subject.

"Yes, I feel like I can eat enough for three people." The vixen chuckled for the first time making both her parents smile.

"Shit me too," Cameron chimed in as he plopped into a visitor chair. "I'm hungrier than a muthafucka."

His father wasted no time swatting his son on the head.

"¡No se utiliza ese lenguaje de la calle sucia!" The older vulpine reprimanded.

She laughed heartily at her brother's inappropriate use of language, just like he usually did when she still lived at home in New York.

In spite of her condition, Carmelita was glad to see her parents, not having seen them in nearly a year. It really made her nervousness fade away.

She really hoped her parents would sneak her some outside food because she hated hospital food with a passion.

* * *

 _Later that night…_

"Good evening sir." One of the doctors greeted.

"Good evening doctor." The "nurse" replied and swiftly made his way down the hall.

He went to the front desk to meet another nurse that was behind it who was shuffling her forms and occasionally sipping her coffee.

"Hello, I need to know what room Ms. Fox is in on this floor. She needs tending to, something about a sponge bath."

The nurse gazed at the male that stood before her desk area.

"We have five other patients with the surname "Fox", which one you're looking for, kid?"

"Carmelita Montoya Fox, ma'am."


	3. The Visitor part 2

**Hey everyone, I hope you like this chapter.**

* * *

The "nurse" knocked on the door a few times. No answer. So, he slowly entered the room along with a cart full of supplies to not give his cover away.

It was dim but it was light enough to see that Carmelita was exhaustedly laying on her side, sound asleep. He crept over to her and studied her.

The vixen had such a present to her that even the raccoon "nurse" couldn't deny it. Her long, beautiful cobalt hair, her radiant red-orange fur was intriguing gaze at. He wanted to reach out and caress her cheek. To reassure himself that despite condition, she was still alive.

Then, the gut-wrenching guilt hit him. A small part of him within the very depths of his mind felt it was all his fault that she landed in the hospital. He didn't make it in time to save her from the blast of the evil Dr. M, who was later found dead in the rubble and ruins of his lair on Kaine Island or so the raccoon heard.

Still, Carmelita didn't deserve any of this. Granted, she may have been a cop whose never-ending quest was to throw him behind bars, but she was simply doing her job just like he was doing his a thief. Being in constant danger was part of the job description of law enforce, especially for the likes of Interpol.

However, the vixen was still person with feelings, friends, family, and overall a life outside of her job. He could have prevented this had he acted swiftly.

He stayed for the next ten minutes then he decided to depart. That is until he clumsily bump into the supplies cart, which rolled and loudly hit the door.

"Shoot." The raccoon quietly chastised to himself for his stupidity and turned to see Carmelita in the mists of awaking.

He was going to try to quickly leave but it was too late. She sat up and then jerked back when she saw the nurse standing before her.

The raccoon panicked for a second as his and her eyes interlocked with each other. It was a good thing he had on the surgical mask so the vixen wouldn't recognize him.

He finally swallowed his worries and cleared his throat.

"Sorry to have bothered you, but I just wanted to see how you were."

Carmelita relaxed a bit and leaned back into her bed.

"I'm fine sir, although now that I'm awake I would like some water please." She even smiled a bit which made the raccoon breathe heavily.

The raccoon shakily grabbed the pitch on the cart along with a cup and poured the water into it.

He handed it to the patient even though he nearly spilled it on the floor.

She took a generous swigs of her drink until there was none left.

She gave the cup back to him and thanked him.

"No-no-no problem...I guess I should be going unless you need anything else..."

He began to back way.

"Sir, I know this may sound silly because I know you're busy and all but can you spare some time and keep me company?'

The raccoon was bewildered by this.

 _"Just my luck."_ He thought to himself. He was now in a predicament he knew could turn for the worst.

Nevertheless, he did what he was told by taking one of the visitor chairs and pulling it closer to Carmelita and was seated.

"So," She started in order to break the awkward silence. "I'm pretty sure you already know my name since you work here but if not it's Carmelita. What's yours?"

"It's...Sylvester." He answered briskly and wrung his hands in an uneasy manner.

The vixen noticed this and giggled.

"It's ok, I don't bite." She joked. "I hope this isn't uncomfortable for you."

"Oh...Oh not at all...so uhh, how did such a pretty woman like yourself land here?" He asked to lessen the tension inside him. He already knew the answer but he had to act obtuse since he was disguised as a nurse.

"That's a question I wonder myself but the doctors and even my family aren't telling me anything until tomorrow. I guess it's for the best. From what they did tell me is that I had been in a coma for a nearly two weeks." The vixen replied matter of factly and then yawned.

"Two weeks? Whatever you went through, I'm happy to know you're ok for the most part."

"Yeah, I still feel achy and my head is occasionally pounding but I should be ok."

Sylvester nodded, he was steadily letting loose.

The vixen decided to change the subject to something lighter. "What kind of music do you listen to, Sylvester?"

"Well," He gazed up the ceiling pondering and faced her. "I really like Hip Hop, R&B, and Techno."

"Techno, huh? Never been into actually, yet I do listen to some Hip Hop music and dancehall music."

"Dancehall? You don't struck me as the type to listen to that genre." The raccoon stated with a cocky smirk underneath his face mask but ti wasn't hard for her to tell he was doing it.

Carmelita lifted her eyebrow and waved her hand dismissively and smirked right back at the nurse.

"Hmm...as if there's a certain look to have in order to like a type of music."

The raccoon retracted but began laughing.

"I mean I didn't mean it like that...I simply would have never guess."

Then both of them started laughing.

"I can already tell you're a tease."

"Probably in more ways than you can ever imagine." He slickly responded and leaned back into his chair.

For the next hour, they conversed about a lot of things, from their favorite childhood shows, food, and even learning that both of them grew up in New York. The two of them, especially Sylvester, enjoyed their chat however, in his case, he felt guilt again but for other reasons. Here he was talking to the Inspector, whose been through something traumatic and trying to recover, but he wasn't speaking with her as himself. He wasn't Sylvester the nurse. He was Sly Cooper the infamous thief who robbed other criminals. He had to be truthful with her, even if it meant her probably hating him for causing her pain and probably having security chasing after him.

He wasn't above deception but in cases like this, it just didn't sit well with him. So then he got up from his chair and gave the vixen a serious look.

"Carmelita?"

"Yes Sylvester?" She sensed his demeanor. "Is everything alright?"

"I have something to tell you, but pleased don't get mad." He calmly said as he took off his surgical mask.

* * *

 **Ok, the next chapter is going to be even more intense when he decides to come clean. How will she react? Stay tuned for chapter 4, later this week. If you have any questions, PM me anytime.**


	4. How could this be?

**A/N: Sorry this took so long, I hope you guys like it so far, I'm working on chapter 5 as we speak. Enjoy and review.**

* * *

Once the mask was removed, the Raccoon eyed her with nervousness and was ready took take whatever verbal assault she was going to hand him.

"It's me…Sly."

However, Carmelita looked at him perplexed and began to rub her temple.

"I don't understand...what's going on?"

Now, it was Sly's turn to be confused as he started to scratch his ear.

"Carmelita, umm it's me Sly, you know Sly Cooper?"

"Sly Cooper? Who are you? Is this some kind of joke?" She was started to get irritated as she was really not understanding what was happening.

Sly was stared at her with such disbelief. What was going on with Carmelita?

"This is not a joke Inspector. It's me Sly, the thief. The very one that you're always chasing after but can never quite catch me." He smirked at that last part.

Again, the vixen didn't even have a clue and started to use both hands to rub her temple again. She felt as if she was in the twilight zone. Also at the moment, she couldn't find the button to call the nurse.

However, she decided to calmly work the situation out and if push came to shove, she had enough strengthen to fight back.

"Thief…Inspector…I don't even know what the hell you're going on about. As far as I'm concerned, I have never met you."

When the Raccoon heard those words his face dropped and then gasped.

"Inspector?" She giggled at the thought to where it almost hurt her ribs. "I haven't finished training yet."

"What?" Was all Sly could other after having his mind blown away from this bizarre revelation.

The vixen's laughter ceased as a few minutes passed.

"Look, I don't know what's going on. Maybe you have me confused with someone else."

"But Carmelita…I don't…"

"Look," She put her hands up in the air sternly. "I'm actually gonna be nice and not call for someone to escort you out of here if you leave my room immediately."

Sly simply was dumbfounded and in defeat, he turned away and dragged himself out of the room in despair.

Carmelita just stared off into space trying to process what she just went through for the next hour. She didn't know whether to feel angry or petrify out by the strange Raccoon and his convincing her of knowing him and of all things being an inspector. How ridiculous was that?

"Inspector? That guy must be loco…he was kind of cute but I hope I never run into him again." She reached for the remote control and turned on the T.V. to ease her worries.

* * *

The Cooper gang was at their hideout, which was a house in the outskirts of town. There were very few houses near them, the closest one was a twenty-minute walk from their place. But, it was for the best, obviously they didn't need anyone knowing they lived there.

Sly was meticulously cleaning his cane and after he was done he carefully placed it in the corner.

For the last two days, he had been moping around in the house, mostly in his room, after his encounter with Carmelita at the hospital.

It was a very rude-awakening for him knowing that she didn't remember him or even being an inspector. He understood she may have had some form of amnesia but how sever was it?

It was a good time to ask Bentley about this since he had yet to tell the turtle or the hippo about his trip. He needed to, it was annoying him to no end. What would her life be like if she never regained her memories of her occupation or Sly being her main target? What would that mean for him? Would that mean she'd become more hell-bent on capturing him or what?

The Raccoon sighed and thought about taking a shower. He needed one right away. He smelled like a person who sweated all the water out of their body after running a marathon.

 _"Shower, then talk with Bentley."_ He thought when making his way to the bathroom.


End file.
